Passenger or Crew?

Scripture: Ephesians 4:7-16

Structure:

• Introduction
• Diversity
• Maturity
• Conclusion

Introduction:

Are you a passenger or crew?

• Are you a spectator or a player?
• Are you a casual observer or an active participant?

Today we continue our series in Ephesians by focusing on chapter 4:7-16

• Two weeks ago we explored the first six verses of Ephesians 4 where Paul talked about the unity of Christian believers and living a life worthy of our calling
• In this morning’s reading Paul develops those themes by talking about diversity and maturity
• In the body of Christ unity goes hand in hand with diversity and a growth in maturity of faith. From Ephesians 4, verse 7, we read…

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) It was Christ who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to equip God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us

 

Diversity:

I want you to imagine Star Trek Crew

• We have Sulu, who is the Helmsman or pilot/navigator of the ship
• Then we have Uhura, who is the Communications expert,
• Spock, the Science Officer, also second in command
• Captain Kirk
• Chekhov, the head of Security,
• Then Bones, the ship’s Doctor
• And Scotty, the ship’s Chief Engineer (‘Beam me up Scotty’)

The Star Trek crew are an example of unity with diversity

• A crew of people, each with their own speciality, working together as one

Paul has just been talking about the unity of the body of Christ – now he talks about its diversity – in particular the diversity of gifts

In verse 7 we read, ‘But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.’

• Then, to support his point Paul quotes from Psalm 68:18, where it talks about the Lord returning victorious from battle and ascending on high to share the spoils of victory with His people

Paul connects Jesus’ descent to earth (i.e. his incarnation) and his ascension to heaven, with his authority and power to distribute gifts to his people

• Because Jesus has descended to earth he knows what we need
• And because he has ascended higher than all the heavens no one can usurp his power

 

In verse 11 Paul lists four or five gifts which are needed for building up the body of Christ: apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor/teacher

An apostle is someone who is sent with a certain delegated authority – like an ambassador

• In one sense all Christians are apostles; we are all ambassadors for Christ
• But that’s not what Paul means here. In the first century the term apostle referred to those leaders in the church who had witnessed the risen Jesus
• People like Peter, James, John and Paul
• By that definition we don’t have apostles today because Jesus has ascended to heaven and isn’t walking around appearing to people
• But although we don’t have apostles in the sense that Paul meant, we do have specially gifted leaders who God works through for his purpose
• So the term apostle has evolved to mean someone who initiates and leads a movement of God
• In that sense, people like William Wilberforce and John Wesley were apostles; although they hadn’t seen the risen Christ, the Spirit did work through them to lead significant movements of reform in society
• Returning to our Star Trek analogy, Captain Kirk is like an apostle of Star Fleet (but not of the church)

 

A prophet is someone who tells people what is on God’s mind

• Their message may be related to the future but more often is about what is happening in the present
• In the Bible a prophet got a direct revelation from God and communicated what they heard – they were God’s mouth piece

A prophet, in the modern sense, is not exactly the same as a prophet in the ancient Biblical sense

• These days a prophet is someone with the gift of insight into the Scriptures and / or our contemporary society
• So a modern prophet doesn’t add anything new to the Bible but they may reveal the meaning of the ancient text in fresh ways that are relevant for our time
• I believe Martin Luther was a prophet; he interpreted the New Testament in a way that brought much needed correction to the church of his time

Or, to use the Star Trek analogy, if Captain Kirk is like an apostle leading and inspiring the crew, then Spock is like a prophet, giving insightful honest advice and challenging Kirk at times

Of course, God can speak through anyone at any time, so any of us could potentially be a prophet

• However, not everyone who thinks they are a prophet actually is
• As a teenager I remember there was someone in the congregation of the church I attended who would quite often stand up in a Sunday worship service and give a pronouncement, prefaced with the words, ‘Thus saith the Lord’. He believed he was a prophet
• Sometimes the minister would challenge what he said by saying to the congregation, ‘I don’t believe that was God speaking to us’.
• Often the most effective prophets are those who don’t realise they are passing on a message from God

We have two measures for discerning whether a prophet is from God or not: The Bible and that person’s character

• If what the person is saying doesn’t fit with Scripture, then it can’t be trusted (they’re not from God)
• Likewise, if the person giving the message behaves in an ungodly way then they are not the real deal
• As Jesus said, by their fruit you will know them.

 

What about the evangelist?

• An evangelist is someone who shares the good news of salvation in Christ using their words
• Again, we all have a responsibility to share our faith with others; we must all be ready to do the work of an evangelist and give account for our hope
• But there are some people who are just more naturally suited to it
• Evangelists are sort of like Uhura, they are the church’s communications specialists

Sadly, the term evangelist has fallen into disrepute in recent decades

• People often associate evangelism with TV personalities who scam vulnerable people out of money; that is not what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 4
• We need to redeem the word and recover a proper understanding of what an evangelist does

An evangelist is a communicator of good news

• They are able to listen to you and understand your needs
• They can explain the gospel of Jesus in a way that is relevant and makes sense to people unfamiliar with the Bible, because they understand the cultural context in which they are living
• They have the ability to gain your trust and give you the confidence to make a commitment to Christ
• But their trustworthiness doesn’t come by deception or using some special trick or technique – their trustworthiness comes from the way they embody the message of the gospel in their lives
• An evangelist genuinely believes the message they are sharing and they are living in the hope and joy that they profess
• A true Christian evangelist doesn’t do anything from selfish ambition or vain conceit – a true evangelist operates with pure motives and that fosters trust
• Evangelists understand God to be generous and they want to invite as many people to God’s party as they can
• As I’ve often said before, an evangelist is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread
• We desperately need good Christian evangelists today

 

The expression, pastors and teachers may be two names for the same ministry

• The minister of a church is traditionally both a pastor and a teacher
• The word pastor comes from the Latin word for shepherd
• A shepherd guides and protects and feeds the sheep of their flock
• Teaching people the ways of God is at the heart of shepherding people
• Biblical preaching guides, protects and feeds people’s souls

Thinking of our Star Trek crew again, the pastor / teacher role is embodied by a number of characters, particularly Chekhov, the chief security officer, whose job it is to protect people, and Bones, the ship’s doctor

 

Some of you may be wondering, ‘But what about Scotty, the chief engineer? Where does he fit in?’

• Well, the four or five gifts named in Ephesians 4 are not an exhaustive list of the spiritual gifts Christ gives; there are other gift lists in the New Testament as well and each list is different
• Perhaps Scotty’s gift is practical helps
• There is no limit to the diversity of gifts that the Spirit gives
• A spiritual gift is simply the way the Holy Spirit works through a person for the well-being of others
• Last Sunday we talked about the church’s mission: To glorify God and be a blessing to His world
• Our gift is the specific way we bless others

This is not to assume that any of the gifts is a lifelong possession

• We are just the conduit, or the vessel, for the gift
• When I was a boy I would go with my grandparents to their bach up north
• Their bach was located in a fairly remote area so we collected rain water off the roof into tanks
• I remember my grandfather had this long pole he would lower into the tanks to measure how much water we had
• We were taught to be careful not to leave taps on unnecessarily – water is a precious resource and needs to be thoughtfully used

If the gifts Jesus gives are like rain water, then we are the tanks

• We might hold the gift for a while – but really it’s not ours to keep
• The water of Christ’s gifts is just passing through us to bless and refresh and strengthen others
• While there is no limit to God’s resources we still need to be thoughtful in how we use the gifts God has given us and not waste them down the drain

 

Maturity:

Okay, so there is one body with a diversity of gifts and the purpose of those gifts is to …equip God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

These verses tell us a number of things

• Firstly, that church is not a spectator sport; everyone has a part to play
• Church isn’t like a bus with one person up the front doing all the driving while everyone else sleeps in the passenger seats behind [1]
• Church is more like the crew on a yacht; it requires everyone to man their station, pitch in and pull their weight
• Are you a passenger or crew?

 

We share our gifts to build others up

• The goal is maturity and maturity is understood as all of us reaching unity in the faith and knowledge of Christ

 

I have here a bucket

• Hold up a bucket with sections cut out at different levels
• 
• This bucket is yet to reach unity (or maturity)
• You can see different sections of the side are at different heights, which means I can only fill this bucket to the level of the lowest section
• As it is this bucket can’t attain the whole measure of its fullness
• If you can imagine this is an organic growing bucket, then each of the sides needs grow to the same height so the bucket can be whole and reach its full potential – like this [hold up a bucket that hasn’t been cut]
• Everyone needs to exercise their gifts for the bucket of the church to reach maturity and be able to hold the full measure of Christ

I guess one question for us to ask ourselves, as a congregation, is what gifts are we missing or not exercising? [Hold up the bucket with the gaps in it]

• In what areas does this church need to grow to reach maturity and unity?
• It’s not just a question of us exercising our own gifts – reaching maturity also requires us to encourage those around us to exercise their gifts, because it is in the process of exercising our gifts that our faith and knowledge of Jesus grows and develops

 

When I was 10 I joined Cubs. (Cubs is like Boy Scouts for younger kids)

• One evening we went to Te Rapa pools in Hamilton to earn our swimming badges
• There were three levels of swimming badges: gold, silver and bronze
• Gold being the highest level and bronze the lowest
• Naturally we all wanted to gain our gold badge
• They put us into groups of about four boys each and you weren’t allowed to progress up a level until everyone in your group had attained the required standard
• There was one boy in our group who wasn’t as physically capable as the rest of us and, even though he tried really hard, he wasn’t able to get past silver, which meant everyone in our group was held back with him, even though the rest of us had done what we needed to attain gold
• It’s a bit like that with church as well – we stick together, no one gets left behind; we reach maturity together, as one. Maturity is unity

As a 10 year old boy I was pretty disappointed to miss out on gaining my gold swimming badge

• Looking back now though, I am grateful for the experience
• Our Cub leaders were teaching us to think about others in our team
• We don’t come to know Christ by individual achievement
• We come to know Christ through a caring commitment to one another – by using our gifts to serve each other and build each other up

We know our faith and knowledge of Christ is mature when we are no longer unsettled or deceived by false teaching

• A mature faith is able to listen, and discern truth from error
• A mature faith is a knowing faith; it isn’t rattled by clever rhetoric
• A mature faith is not a blind faith; it is faith born of experience with God
• The kind of knowledge that is in view here isn’t just an intellectual head knowledge (as important as that is) – it’s the intimacy that comes from having a personal relationship with Jesus

 

In verse 15 Paul continues his theme of maturity when he writes…

• Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

For many years I read this verse in English and thought that speaking the truth in love meant having the maturity to handle difficult conversations with people

• You know, speaking those truths that hard for people to hear in such a way that leaves the relationship intact
• And while it can mean that, it actually means so much more
• You see, in the original Greek text the verb speaking is not there

What it actually says in the original text is…

• Instead, truthing in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

In the Greek then, the word truth here is a verb, a doing word

• English doesn’t have a verb for truth; in English truth is a noun
• So the translators had to find a verb to put in because ‘truthing’ isn’t a word in English
• While you can say, ‘speaking the truth in love’ it would be more accurate to phrase this verse as living the truth in love. or, doing the truth in love [2]
• The idea is one of integrity – that is, integrating the truth of the gospel with all of our life; not just our speech but our thinking and our deeds too
• Truth and love go together – we can’t separate them

Take evangelism for example – you might be able to explain the gospel in ways that are really creative and clear so people can understand in their head what you’re saying, but if they don’t feel like the church loves them or cares about them, then they won’t believe you.

• Without love, the truth of the message just won’t hit home, it won’t stick.

True story: During the week I met with a man whose wife used to attend Tawa Baptist back in the late 1960’s and early 70’s (during Jack McFadyen and Barrie Hibbert’s time)

• She first came as a child to the Sunday school here. Her parents didn’t attend church but were happy to send her along
• This girl didn’t have a wonderfully stable home life; I was told her parents had their challenges
• But there was something about the people here that made her feel welcome and safe – she found sanctuary in this place
• When she out grew Sunday school this girl started attending youth group
• Around that time the church put on a musical production called Saul Talk and they found a place for her in that production
• As someone whose parents didn’t attend it would have been easy for her to be overlooked but certain individuals in this church went out of their way to make sure she was included – they made room for her
• That young woman came to faith in this church and, although she left the area for work, she has carried on in Christian faith and service all her life
• She would be in her early 60’s now

The man who told me this story said he was thankful for Tawa Baptist because this church cared for his wife (before they were married)

• He then went on to name a number of people who in very practical ways went the extra mile to look after her, by helping her shift flats and that sort of thing
• I tell you that story because it’s a good example of what truthing in love means – this church has a heritage of living the truth in love
• To those of you who were here at that time I want to say, thank you
• As a consequence of your love this young woman believed the truth of the gospel and grew to maturity in her faith and knowledge of Christ
• Truth and love go together

From him [that is, Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

The point here is that truthing in love is meant to be done in community with other believers

• If we try to do it on our own, we’re not going to get very far, we’ll run out of steam
• Caring for people, like that young woman, is a team effort – every supporting ligament is involved
• What do ligaments do?
• They hold us together on the inside – they connect bones and muscle and allow movement
• A ligament is not seen. Maybe you aren’t an upfront person. Maybe you don’t serve in ways that people can see. Perhaps you are a ligament connecting other people to the church and to Christ
• You are important – we need you

Conclusion:

What is your gift?

• What has Christ equipped you to do to strengthen his body?
• Where can you serve?
• We have a wonderful heritage in this church
• We need to keep on ‘living the truth in love’
• Are you a passenger or crew?

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

• Why do you think this stood out to you?

2. What do we mean by unity with diversity?

• Can you think of examples of unity with diversity functioning in the body of Christ?

3. Discuss / reflect on the gifts that Paul lists in Ephesians 4:11

• What does each one mean?
• How does the first century understanding of these gifts differ from a 21^st Century understanding?

4. What other gifts does the Spirit of Jesus give?

• What is your particular gift?
• Are you able to exercise this gift? (When/how?)

5. What gifts is your church strong in?

• What gifts are missing or need of building up?

6. What is Christian maturity? What does it look like?

7. What does it mean to ‘live the truth in love’?

• Can you think of a story from your own experience of ‘truthing in love’?
• Find someone you trust to share your story with

8. Are you a passenger or crew?

 

[1] The bus illustration comes from John Stott’s commentary on Ephesians

[2] Refer John Stott and Klyne Snodgrass